Exciting news!

Besides writing blogs about travels and finger plays for preschoolers, I have been writing books-that-are-never-published. There was a flurry of successes back in the early 90s, including the first series of Bible board books, Baby Bible Storybook. Then while I was writing weekly sermons, publishing changed - faster, leaner and harder to break in. I am back to square 1, even with 20+ publications!

But determination (read: stubbornness!) is a gift. So in the last month I have been surprised to sign contracts with a Christian agent to do any number of books, beginning with a God Cares! board book set. This project has been in my brain for a decade and written, sent out, rejected and revised repeatedly for the last 5 years. Why continue?

Because it is the kind of book I envision my grandchildren hearing to surround their days with God's love as well as the family bonds. The day may come for all of them that parental (and even grandparental!) feet will be sighted firmly in the clay, opinions will be outdated, advice ignored. The day will come when the earthly bonds are broken. Then I hope they each dig down and find a endless source of unchangeable and unchanging love in God, perhaps in something I said or did or shared
.

Whatever your passion is - gardening or volunteer work or travel or baking - think of how you can share the activity with grandchildren so that God's love transcends and endures.

Back to Grand-nana-ing

Each summer we are blessed with a few days with each of our grandchildren individually. I love these times one on one - no siblings or mothers to interfere. The idea is not so much to spoil each one (although I think the amount of ice cream consumed might be over the home norm) as to give focused attention and be able to listen to what they have to say. We choose activities specifically for each child at the level of development and interest they have. This means I get to enjoy Chicago in all its varied glory!

This visit was the Horse Girl so we included a trail ride and horse show as well as state park hiking, movie, theater play. We watched the movies she likes without compromise and ate at restaurants we do not normally visit. And it is all great fun!

Because I am Christian grandparenting, I plan a service project of some kind for each visit - this one was buying food for 60 PADS lunches. The grocery store included "5th going into 6th grade" math and item location and estimating the total cost. Then we delivered it all to the church, demonstrating what a small part of the big process we have.

While at St. Mark's we looked at the icons on display and explored the chapel and alter and stained glass. It was not an extensive tour, but, since I had just spent time doing things important to her, she was willing to see some things important to us.

I love summer!

Not Memorial Day

I did not take a holiday yesterday from blogging or anything else. I am currently in Moshi, Tanzania,  volunteering for three weeks teaching English to preschoolers. We had a lecture today on the education system and there was one point relevant to Christian Grandparenting.

The speaker encouraged us to keep speaking English to the children no matter how young, even without comprehension. He pointed out English speaking children learn the language a sound or two at a time, encouraged by those around them. At home Tanzanian children learn the family tribal language. From ages 7-14, they are taught in Swahili. After 14 they are taught in English. The ones who do best are those who have had -  even in the very early preschool years - an exposure to English sounds. Subconsciously the base for English is there. So the work we do - in my case teaching the Hokey Pokey - is essential even if we will never know the results.

It occurs to me that introducing your faith to the grandchildren gives them the language to believe on their own later. Those who have never heard about God or Jesus or the Church or compassion or grace will struggle with the language when (if!) they are encounter it later life. If your interactions with the grandchildren, no matter how brief, include prayer, Bible stories and songs, even worship experiences, they will have tucked away a base for making a choice. The sounds and language will be there. As well as your care and love, supporting the care and love of God.

We probably won't be around to see the results, but we will know we planted a seed. God can water and make it grow!

Want to know about the trip? Blogging at rctanzania2014.blogspot.com

Nodding Nana

Still jet-lagged from Tanzania - it was a wonderful experience with preschool children in a Christian setting. I'll be posting here again next Monday, but until then take a look at rctanzania2014.blogspot.com and see the wild animals!

The Photo Box

In this digital age it is possible - and impossible - to keep up. If I made print and books and folders of every shot I have taken, we'd need a separate storage unit. How do you share what is relevant and interesting to the next generation - and the next?

By default, my mother had the best idea. She meticulously made photo albums of trips and events - shot with Brownie or eventually Instamatic! Taking one of those off the shelf seemed time consuming and daunting. No one wanted to commit to a bunch of pictures, only a few of which were really interesting. So after a polite first view, they gathered dust.

But the ones that were too silly or someone had a grumpy face or just did not fit went into a large white box. To take that box down was not a commitment. When you were tired, you stopped. More often than not these pictures showed the true spirit of the event - I really was grumpy on the trip to Colorado! And here is where my sisters and I looked anything but sophisticated at Prom. The white box was accessible and fun. If the pictures on top were boring, dig down a few decades.

So I carefully make photo books of our trips as a couple, but know they are our memories. Engaging the grandchildren is a different tactic. Look all of us they love pictures of themselves. I have a small chap album for each one that includes some infancy pictures as well as more up to date ones I change regularly. I throw them in the bag I take to restaurants, finding that the electronics go away so parents and children engage as they relive the memories. Far easier than hauling baby books!

I keep picture on the walls of our travels, pictures the children as children, and a easily changeable one with the latest of the grandchildren. They don't always look at all of them, but once in a while one will talk about doing a report on India or Yellowstone, and I am ready to walk them to the wall. I make special frames of baptisms, first communions, and confirmations.

And, yes, I keep a box of "throw away" - from several generations and printed out as I take them. Like letters and notes, it is good to have some non-electronic pictures to paw through and laugh at.

Staying relevant

I finally gave up on music.

Not that the 60's were the Best Music Years, but they were! Relevant lyrics like "she loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah!" They don't make 'em like that anymore...

I think as the children grew, I tried to be aware of their music - or I made them listen to oldies. Now the grandchildren are listening and moving to ....I gave up being relevant in that area. If I expend brain cells on negotiating the geezer world, I need to pick and chose where to relate to the grandkids.

My category is literature. I read at least the first book in any popular YA series and never bypass a children's department in the bookstore. I subscribe to the library's updates of children's/youth books, know my way around a graphic novel, and try to see all the book-based movies. It might not be my preferred reading, but it is worth the effort to have a conversation starter with a 12 year old!

What is your bonding speciality? CUBS batting averages? Latest Disney movies? Online gaming? The trick is to observe grandkids' interests and activities; then pick one to ramp up your credibility. (Note this is very different from talking about something you are interested in and convincing the kids to enjoy it!)


The subtle message is that you value them as individuals with tastes and opinions. Yeah, yeah, yeah!

Summer fun and service

Here come summer for the grandkids - sports, lesson, camps. Maybe even Disney! And if you are lucky, some quality time grandparents.

 If possible, it is a wonderful opportunity to have each grandchild alone, even for an afternoon. You frame the event - zoo or library or museum or board games at home. Set your cell phone aside and focus on the topics they want to discuss and the things they want to see. Memories come out of these moments.

This is also an opportunity to engage them in serving others, even in a brief and limited way. Stop by the grocery store and let the child pick 3 non perishable foods they like to eat, but buy 2 of each. Bag one set and drop off at the Food Pantry. Homeless shelter in the area? Decorate lunch bags with stickers or markers and go together to donate them. Let them drop change from a meal in a donation box and point out how it will be used. Makes cookies or a love you card for the parents! Whatever you choose, set the example and talk after about how it feels to share and care.

Have a super summer!